Stockholm Calling: Day 1 rehearsals continue with 4 more countries

It’s been a busy morning on day 1 of rehearsals with 4 more acts still to take to the Eurovision stage today, and we here at ESCToday are ready to bring you the latest news live from the arena itself.

With Finland, Greece, Moldova, Hungary and Croatia having already taken to the Globe Arena stage this morning, it’s time for the remaining 4 acts from the first half of the first semi-final to embark on their on-stage rehearsals this afternoon.

Day 1 of rehearsals: The schedule

All times listed below are in CEST.

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Day 1 of rehearsals continue this afternoon with performances from the Netherlands, Armenia, San Marino and Russia. A short first impression video around 30-seconds long of each rehearsal will be uploaded to the official Eurovision YouTube channel.

06 Netherlands: Douwe Bob – Slow down

Douwe Bob took to the Eurovision stage earlier this afternoon for his first rehearsal, in which he wore a tailored purple suit. The stage, filled with shades of purple and gold, shone in the arena throughout the Dutch performance, where Douwe was accompanied by a number of backing band members. The focus of the Netherlands’ performance is on Douwe, who performs with his guitar in the center of the stage.

07 Armenia: Iveta Mukuchyan – LoveWave

Taking to the stage next is Iveta Mukuchyan, who performs onstage wearing a fully black jumpsuit accompanied with a thin cape. A powerful performance, Armenia’s staging focuses a lot on the lighting effects used throughout along with the number of pyrotechnics used around the entire stage.

08 San Marino: Serhat – I didn’t know

Disco-fever hit the Eurovision stage this afternoon as Serhat and San Marino’s first rehearsal took place at the Globe Arena! Serhat appears alongside a total of 5 backing vocalists/dancers, in which a colourful and energetic performance begins. Falling stars and, of course, disco mirror balls make an appearance through the performance, projected onto an LED screen alongside bright colours of blue, red and white. The backing vocalists/dancers perform on raised platforms with both male and female dancers being projected onto the backing LED screens.

09 Russia: Sergey Lazarev – You are the only one

The final rehearsal of the day comes from Sergey Lazarev and Russia, with huge use of the LED screens and projections on the stage. Described as a “magic wall”, the start of Russia’s performance starts off with projection images on the LED screens, which later turns into a climbing wall. Mid-performance, Sergey begins to climb up some stairs where some choreography follows. Sergey ends his performance at the top of the wall, catching a projected star.

From the sneak peek at each of today’s rehearsing nations, whose performance are you most excited to see on the Eurovision stage next week? Stay tuned as later this evening from 19:30 CEST, we will be bringing you the latest from our daily press poll, presented LIVE from the Globe Arena!

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Jessica was born and raised in the United Kingdom. Eurovision has been a huge part of her life for a number of years, getting to see the contest live for the first time in 2015. Jessica joined the ESCToday team in November 2013.